Presbyterian & Reformed

(This is from 2/28. We had a guest preacher last Sunday and I was ill so did not manage to get any notes. This should put us back on track for this Sunday to resume our series in Mark)

Mark seems to do everything in a hurry. We’ve already seen his ‘vision statement’ in the preceeding two OT quotes and the ministry of John the Baptist who was to live his life as a sign pointing to Christ.

In the ordinary course of nature, tornadoes can only exist if three elements, temperature, pressure, and humidity, all come together in the ‘right’ combination to allow the tornado to form. So, too, in the ministry of Christ, certain things had to come together:

• The Ministry of the Old Testament Prophets (which was completed in the person and work of John the Baptist)
• Baptism of Jesus
• Three signs given

The signs were:

1. The heavens open
   Note that this is the same word in Greek for the tearing of the veil in the temple at the Crucifixion. The Kingdom of God ‘rent asunder’ the heavens here.
2. The Spirit descended
   If this was a baptism for sin, why did Jesus need it? Because of the Gospel. Jesus DID have sin – on the cross – our sin. This baptism was the resolution to take the call of the Father. It was, in a sense, an inauguration of ministry. In His submission at Calvary, God is able to expunge His wrath. And leads us to see the doctrine of double imputation. Our sin is imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. Jesus, even here at the beginning, is setting His face toward Jerusalem and was saying “In this baptism, I promise to be the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.”
3. Voice from Heaven
   Some err in saying that up to this point, Jesus had been fully man and only man – and here, in the baptism, was ‘adopted’ by God. They quote from Ps. 2 “Today, I have begotten you.” They promote the heresy that Jesus ‘put on divinity’ at this point. But God is not establishing a relationship. Rather, in speaking, He is confirming it. Just as baptism exemplifies the covenant and does not establish the covenant when we baptize. So, also, with us. We are not children because of what we do – we are children of God because of who we are.

The baptism of Jesus, then, was not some willy-nilly, random event but was a highly intentional one. In Ch. 11, when the lawyers demand by what authority he does certain things, He points back to His baptism as evidence of heavenly authority.

His second preparation was His Temptation

Immediately, Jesus is thrust into the wilderness. We are told that the Spirit drove him forth for fourty days. We see a reminder back to the fourty years of Moses in the wilderness and the 40 days of Elijah with no water.

Satan is a character in this part of the narrative. So, too, are wild animals. The wilderness is a dangerous place to be. And, yet, angels are there, too, ministering to Him. The other Gospel accounts fill in the picture a bit with the idea of Jesus spending much time in prayer for protection.

Satan tempted Jesus. We are not immune from that attack. He may confuse us intellectually. He may manipulate us at a more hidden level: Our desires, impulses, prejudices, instincts, fears can all be assaulted. We know that the ‘old self’ can rebel in sin and we know that God tests his children. This can lead to anger, self-pity, and even unbelief. But God gives us a different model. “Count it all joy, brothers”. (Jm 1:2) Why? Because testing should produce steadfastness and steadfastness brings forth maturity. We must take responsibility in temptation and arm against them. We don’t need to shrink from it. We even see that temptation itself is not equivalent to sin. Jesus was God, but fully man and endured temptation even as we do – and yet was without sin. Therefore, we have hope at those united to Christ that we can overcome temptation. We have power in our High Priest to do just this. (Heb 2:18 Heb 4:15-16 Heb 7:25)

Storms do come. Tornadoes upset our world. Fear can overwhelm.
Do we have confidence that our sins are imputed to Jesus? Do we really believe it
Are we just asd confidence that we have the righteousness of God and have forgiveness?

If so, we have hope and a friend in Christ, who interceeds ever for us before the Throne.